


Comfortable

by Lucigoosey_The_Lightbringer



Series: Renegades (Steven Universe: Homeworld AU) [23]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: :), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Aster Universe Has PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Dreams, Emotional Manipulation, Evil Plans, Gen, I Am My Mom Gone Wrong, Light Angst, Manipulation, Nightmares, Past Brainwashing, Past Character Death, Past Memory Loss, Renegades Steven Universe AU, Singing, Steven Universe Has PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Steven Universe's Brother, White Diamond Is A Manipulative Bitch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:21:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29050563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucigoosey_The_Lightbringer/pseuds/Lucigoosey_The_Lightbringer
Summary: The hybrid's stomach twisted a little at the thought, staring at the basket and clothes for a moment. It didn't make sense. It was like a switch had been flipped. Like she'd done a complete 180. Wariness pricked at him like needles, every instinct screaming not to trust this for a second.| Post-IASU (I Am Steven Universe.)
Relationships: Amethyst & Aster Universe, Amethyst & Steven Universe, Aster Universe & Chevron, Steven Universe & Aster Universe, Steven Universe & Chevron
Series: Renegades (Steven Universe: Homeworld AU) [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1918204
Comments: 70
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

_Steven dreamed of that dark place, the eternal nothingness surrounding him._

_This time, Lapis was in front of him. She sat cross-legged, her hands propped up behind her as she faced him. He appeared sitting down, his legs stretched out a little in front of him - not quite cross-legged, yet not quite spread out completely either. He drew them closer, however, when he saw the blue gem, giving her a long, uncertain stare before ultimately ripping his gaze away and taking a deep breath to compose himself. It didn't take him long to figure out this was a dream, just like the one he'd had before, but he didn't particularly understand why his mind chose to keep dumping him here. The hybrid furrowed his eyebrows, staring off into the darkness for a moment, while Lapis slowly blinked her eyes open to look up at him curiously._

" _At least you're not dying anymore," she commented, and Steven swept his gaze back toward her at once, raising his eyebrows slightly before letting them fall slack with a frown. "I mean…" She tilted her head and grinned, the wicked little smirk of someone who knew the punchline. "You know, not physically." She giggled and snorted, and despite himself, Steven's lips twitched._

" _Right…" He trailed off, gazing at her for a moment. "Lapis, I…"_

_Lapis hummed, lowering her head and peering up at him through her lashes. "I know, Steven."_

" _You don't," Steven said softly, swallowing hard and taking a deep breath as he struggled to compose himself again. He leaned his head back, looking away from her for a moment, and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. I'm-" He stopped, chest shuddering as he inhaled. "I'm so sorry."_

" _Why?" Lapis asked him rather bluntly. "You didn't do anything. This wasn't your fault." Steven turned his head toward her at that, opening his mouth, but she interrupted. "It's_ _ **her**_ _fault." Steven stared at her for a moment, jaw wobbling furiously as he tried to speak, then abruptly snapped it shut and just blinked. Lapis raised her eyebrows and smirked again, looking amused._

" _I…" Steven closed his eyes, breathing in and struggling to think past the pain pounding strong in his chest. He knew that. And he wished he could stop blaming himself so much, he really did._

_Lapis huffed out a chuckle and sat back. "What, like it's hard?"_

" _Harder than you think," Steven defended himself, lashes fluttering as he opened his eyes._

" _Or maybe it's easier than_ _ **you**_ _think," Lapis retorted, grinning, and Steven shook his head and gazed at her for a moment, tilting his head to the side and falling silent. The blue gem looked back at him for a while, an intrigued look flickering across her face, before it softened once again into an almost warm smile. "You're smarter than that, Steven. Don't pretend you're not. You didn't force me to fly to Homeworld. You didn't mean for that escape attempt to go the way it did and you know as well as I do that if you'd known I was there, there's no way on Earth you would have even tried to leave to begin with. Actions have consequences, and that's fine. But that doesn't mean what happened to me was your fault. None of this, Steven, is your fault."_

_Steven hesitated, silent for a while, and looked down at his hands. Yeah, he knew that._

" _Besides," Lapis hummed. "You've got bigger things to worry about now."_

* * *

He woke with a start, heart pounding, mind racing, startled awake as if from a nightmare. His pink twin turned his head toward him at once, a concerned look flitting across his face as Steven managed to heave himself into a sitting position, using his hands to hold himself up for the most part. He shuffled closer, not close enough to touch but close enough that Steven could hear the faint, constant humming of his gem, the rest of the room encased in a somewhat dreary silence. "Are you alright?" His brother moves closer still, looking him over as if checking for an injury, and Steven knows he'll find many of those from battle scars he hadn't healed yet, but they don't seem to be his major concern, because he lifts his eyes back to Steven quickly. "Did you have a nightmare? I had a nightmare, too. I also had a dream. A good dream, not a nightmare dream."

Steven shook his head a little, pushing himself to sit up completely and curling inwards for a moment, arms folding carefully over his stomach. He held himself like that for a few seconds in silence before he brought himself to respond. "I didn't… I didn't have a nightmare. I dreamt…" The hybrid stopped, his mouth thick and tongue stinging with the bitter taste of his next words, and did his best to swallow them down. "I dreamt about Lapis. I-" He shook his head, as if to expel the thought from his mind, and peeked up at his brother. "... what'd you dream about?"

"Oh, I don't remember…" The gem stared at him in concern for a long moment before his eyes widened, pupils shifting into exclamation points. "Oh! I dreamed I had a name. Aster Universe."

"Aster Universe," Steven echoed, and blinked, eyebrows furrowing. "That's… really cool." His brother nodded, exclamation points shifting into diamonds, and fell silent again with a smile. Steven studied him for a moment, flicking his gaze across the gem's face silently, then managed to tug his lips into a tired but genuine smile in response. "Now we've got something to call you."

"Yeah," Aster giggled. "I've got a name."

"And-" Steven paused, watching Aster's gaze snap past him suddenly, diamond-shaped pupils shifting into pinpricks, and whirled his head around, pushing himself up a little protectively. His shoulders stiffened, admittedly, at the sight of a white bubble rising through the floor, and he remained tense when it finally entered the room completely and dropped to reveal Chevron. The sight of her alone caught him off guard, but the sight of her holding a pile of pink, white and purple fabric and a basket with what looked like a bunch of those colorful, blocky fruits from the human zoo set off about a million warning bells in his head at once. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I'm on business," Chevron chirped. She looked past him for a second, at Aster, and the lack of surprise made the hybrid tense all over again. "Just dropping a few things off for my Diamond."

Steven flicked his gaze down to the clothes and the basket, then back up to Chevron. "Why?"

"White?" Aster's hand curled around his arm, holding tight, as he peered around the hybrid and stared ahead at Chevron. He didn't seem nervous - if anything, his eyes seemed to harden a little when he looked at the Amethyst - but it didn't take long for his own gaze to stray to the things she was holding, as the Quartz leaned down to put them on the floor. "Is that… clothes?"

Chevron hummed and looked up at them, sparing Aster a toothy grin, and Steven nudged the pink gem behind him a little more on instinct. "Sure is. White said you're welcome to change if you feel like it, but they're entirely optional. The Pebbles didn't have too much to work with on such short notice, but she said they can work on something more comfortable if you don't like these." Steven furrowed his eyebrows at that, exchanging a confused look with his brother while Chevron continued, gesturing toward the pile of things she'd sat down. "She sent a few of the Amethysts from the zoo to bring some food and water, something about staying nourished. There's also a tablet somewhere in here with a direct line to her if you need anything else, but I wouldn't use it too freely because she's going to be rather busy taking other calls with all the repairs going on. I'll be back with some more food once the Pebbles finish making your 'beds'."

Aster's grip on Steven's arm tightened a little, but the hybrid could do little more than stare at Chevron at that point, heart pounding, mouth dry, throat clenched tight with so much confusion and disbelief and _shock_ that he didn't think he'd be able to speak a word right then if he tried.

"Y'all have a good day." Chevron winked, then a bubble formed around her and she was gone.

"Did that…" Aster shook his head a little, pressing closer to Steven after a moment, and peered over his shoulder at the things Chevron had left behind, almost warily. "Am I still dreaming?"

Steven snapped his mouth shut, still too stunned to speak. He certainly _felt_ like _he_ was dreaming right then. It didn't make any sense; why would White Diamond put them in here in the first place - well, put _him_ in here in the first place…? But… 'beds'. She knew about Aster. _Chevron_ had known about Aster, which explained her lack of surprise upon seeing him. The hybrid's stomach twisted a little at the thought, staring at the basket and clothes for a moment. It didn't make sense. It was like a switch had been flipped. Like she'd done a complete 180. Wariness pricked at him like needles, every instinct screaming not to trust this for a second.

"I…" Aster trailed off. "... I don't trust this."

Steven shook his head, glancing at him, then looked back at the basket. "... neither do I."


	2. Chapter 2

A few hours passed before anything else happened.

Steven ended up moving the clothes and basket to the other side of the room, and he and Aster stuck close to the window. His brother settled into a corner, seeming rather comfortable there for the most part, but he also looked troubled, sparing glances back and forth between the pile of things Chevron had left and the window. Steven understood; White Diamond had to be watching them somehow, but neither of them could figure out how. A part of him was almost scared to know; she seemed to know a lot more than she let on, after all. She'd sent them food and water. Said something about _nourishment_. Steven couldn't fathom why she would do something like that unless she genuinely understood his half-human needs. But even Blue Diamond had somewhat understood that, and she hadn't even thought about food or water. So why would…

"This is…" Aster curled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs tightly. He rocked back and forth for a moment, a disgruntled expression on his face as he looked at the window, then shook his head and buried his face into his arms for a moment. "I don't like this," he mumbled, and Steven furrowed his eyebrows, looking over at his brother with a frown. "I don't like _her_. I don't want Chevron to come back. I wanna get out of here… I don't like being…"

A cold feeling trickled down Steven's spine, instinctively sensing the meltdown incoming. The hybrid scooted a little closer, but not too close, and reached across the wall toward his brother. "Hey," he called out softly, and Aster's head twitched, raising slightly. "Just breathe… it's okay."

Aster shook his head a little, but he did take a deep breath, shifting to wrap his arms around himself. He sat like that for a moment, staring at his knees. "I don't like being trapped. It's…"

"Scary. I know." Steven ran his tongue over his lips, falling silent for a moment. He scooted a little closer, further encouraged when some of the tension in Aster's shoulders seemed to fizzle away, and shifted to sit beside his brother completely. "I'm scared, too. But we're not gonna be in here forever, yeah?" He tilted his head, leaning forward a little to meet Aster's gaze. His brother looked at him somewhat reluctantly at first, but seemed to soften a little when their eyes met. "We'll get out of here. And then we can get back to the gems and figure out how to fix this."

Aster looked away again, up at the window, then ducked his head back to his arms. He was silent for a while after that, pinprick pupils trailing across the little bit of light streaming into the otherwise dark room, before he took another deep breath and nodded. He rocked again, just for a few seconds, before he went still and let his legs drop to sit normally again. "Yeah. We will." He looked down, fidgeting with the front of his shirt for a moment. "... I'm sorry. I know that I…"

"Don't- you've got nothing to be sorry for," Steven chided, exhaling softly through his nose and letting his head fall back for a second. Aster frowned down at his hands for a moment, silent, then turned his head a little and looked over at the hybrid again. "Trust me, I know this sucks. This whole situation sucks. Both of us almost died, and now…" An oddly protective feeling engulfed him, staring at the gem beside him for a moment, before he narrowed his eyes and looked away again, shaking his head. "But you don't have to apologize. Believe me, I get it."

"I know…" Aster trailed off. "I don't know how you did this before on your own. I…"

Steven didn't respond for a moment, looking up toward the window. He wasn't technically on his own, even then, was he? Even if he didn't know it, they'd always been together. "I wasn't alone."

Aster furrowed his eyebrows, tilting his head, pupils shifting into question marks briefly. But it didn't take long for them to shift into exclamation points, and then back to pinpricks, as the realization set in, and a faint smile flitted across his features for a second as he gazed back at Steven. "Heh… yeah…" He trailed off, his smile widening a little as he looked away again, and the hybrid briefly tugged his lips into a grin as he leaned his head back and looked up at the ceiling. He fell silent for a while after that, thinking back to the fusion they made. It hadn't felt much different from how Steven felt _now_. At least, before Melanite had… his smile wavered as his thoughts trailed, remembering how disconnected he had felt, even when they were _together._

The hybrid looked down, staring at the gem half embedded in his stomach, then trailed his gaze toward Aster again. The gem met his gaze briefly, then looked down at his own gem, then at Steven's. He lifted a hand, cupping it around his own gem half, and furrowed his eyebrows.

After a moment of silence, his brother mumbled, "what are we going to do?"

"About what?" Steven flicked his gaze around the room briefly, then looked back at Aster.

"About… us?" Aster asked tentatively, finally lifting his gaze from his gem to look back at him. Steven blinked, falling silent for a moment, while his brother's eyebrows furrowed together so close they were almost touching. "We can't… can we stay unfused? Your- my- our gem is…" He lifted his hand from his stomach and looked down at the half of the Diamond in his stomach.

"I feel fine," Steven admitted, somewhat dubious. "We're both _okay_ like this. I mean, I don't…" He stared at the half of the gem for a moment, then looked down at his own. "Do you _want_ to?"

Aster didn't respond immediately.

Steven ran his tongue over his lips, hesitating, then took a deep breath. "Because I don't… not right now, anyway. And not… _permanently_." His brother looked up at this, pupils shifting into exclamation points at once as the hybrid went on, "I kinda like getting to know you like this. If we do end up fusing again, we don't… have to _stay_ like that. That wouldn't… it wouldn't be right. Not if we don't _want_ to stay fused. And I would never force someone into something like that."

"Neither would I!" Aster perked up a little, lifting his head with a grin. "So we can stay like this?"

Despite himself, Steven found himself giggling. After the events that had transpired over the past week alone, it felt nice to laugh. "Of _course_ we can. I… kind of prefer it like this anyway."

"Me too," Aster replied warmly, dropping his hands into his lap now. "I mean, I loved being… _us_. But I also love being me. And I love actually being able to be _with_ you. When it was just us, I…" His smile wavered for a moment, gazing at Steven, and when it returned, there was an edge of sadness to the expression, a flicker of apprehension in his gaze. "I wasn't really… I was alone."

Steven softened a little, meeting his twin's gaze silently for a moment. He scooted closer, closing the distance between them completely, and reached out to wrap an arm around his brother's shoulders; Aster lit up at once, all hints of sorrow and hesitance gone as he moved closer and sank sideways into the hybrid, wrapping his arms around himself and letting his head fall back to rest it against Steven's shoulder, gazing across the room for a moment silently. The hybrid fell silent, resting his head against Aster's for a moment, and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly through his teeth. "You're not alone," he murmured, and Aster sank a little closer.

"I know." Steven curled his fingers curled loosely into the back of Aster's shirt, as his brother sighed. "Neither of us are."

Steven hummed quietly in agreement, managing a tired smile as Aster buried his face into his shoulder, and the hybrid quietly pressed half of his face into the pink gem's hair, falling silent. Aster let out a quiet hum, turning his head again, then suddenly chuckled.

"I guess I'll have to face…" He paused, silent for a moment, then continued quietly. Steven, for a moment, couldn't help but smile at the familiar melody despite himself. He shook his head a little, taking a deep breath, and fell silent to just listen to his brother as he continued to sing.

"That in this awful place  
I shouldn't show a trace  
Of doubt…"

Steven hummed along, silent for a moment.

"But, pulled against the grain," he joined in after a few seconds, closing his eyes.

"I feel a little pain  
That I would rather do  
Without…"

"I'd rather be…" Aster smiled suddenly, pinprick pupils shifting into diamonds, and pulled away from Steven. The hybrid let him, sinking back against the wall, and Aster settled beside him.

"Free-ee…  
Free-ee…  
Free…"

"I'd rather be," Steven murmured.

"Free-ee…  
Free-ee…  
Free…"

"Free-ee…" Aster leaned his head back, glancing over at him again.

Steven met his gaze for a moment, then looked up at the window. "Free-ee…"

"Free…"

_(He remembered pacing the length of the Room, dancing and twirling and doing whatever he could to keep the shadows from getting him. He remembered flickering lights and high-pitched buzzing, he remembered hands creeping at him from the shadows like snakes, he remembered sometimes just wanting to lay down and let them engulf him completely. But he'd kept dancing, kept singing because it was the only thing he could do, to keep what little sanity he had left.)_

"From here…"

Aster huffed out a giggle suddenly, a quiet, breathless sound, and collapsed backwards against the wall with a heavy sigh, shaking his head. "When we get out of here…" He trailed off, eyes focused on the window, then abruptly trailed his gaze to the ceiling. "I'm gonna shatter her."

Steven didn't know what to make of the fact that he didn't feel anything at that statement at all. Not relief, not fear. There was no desire to object. It wasn't that he didn't think Aster was capable of such a thing - he'd _seen_ exactly how capable he was, after all, when he'd shattered Melanite, crushed her into dust with his bare hands… but the amount of apathy he felt at the mere thought of him doing such a thing to… who was he even talking about? Steven assumed it was White Diamond, since she'd locked them in here to begin with. But the thought of him shattering White Diamond didn't make him feel anything. Like he was just too tired to care. Actually, a part of him almost agreed with Aster. A part of him almost _wanted_ him to do it.

The hybrid exhaled heavily through his nose and opened his mouth.

A bubble rose up in front of them, only a few feet away, and Steven snapped it shut again with a click. He rose to his feet, fists clenched, shoulders tense, and Aster stood up beside him at once, practically bristling as he pressed closer to the hybrid and fixed a cold, steady glare on the bubble in front of them. But both boys froze by the time it dropped, seeing who was standing there; definitely not who they were expecting, but once they got a better look at the gem in front of them, it didn't take _either_ of them long to relax. Aster gasped, a soft, quiet, shocked sound, and Steven practically lit up, clenched fists falling slack at once as he rushed forward.

" _Amethyst!"_


	3. Chapter 3

"Steven!" Amethyst put down the things she was carrying to catch the hybrid at once as Steven rocked forward into her arms, throwing his arms around her and holding on for all he was worth.

The relief that flushed through his system was unparalleled. She was okay. For a moment, Steven thought he might break down at once, sinking forward into her arms and burying his face into her shoulder, breath shuddering as he inhaled through his teeth. Then the fact that she was _there_ registered, and a few warning bells went off in his head, sirens and flashes and flickers of _wait, no, stop, hold on a second_ as he jerked back, detangling himself from the smaller Quartz and looking down at her in stunned silence for a few seconds. She looked different; she was wearing a plain back tank top that covered her gem up completely, and what looked like jean shorts with black stars on them. Her hair was a little shorter, tied back into a ponytail, but that was mostly the same regardless - what stunned him the most was that her gem was hidden.

A flicker of fear burst to life in his chest, a burning, stifling feeling. Amethyst didn't seem to notice that he had frozen - at least, she seemed more occupied in checking him over right then. "Are you okay? Did she hurt you? I-" He watched her freeze, eyes landing on his gem for a second. Then she looked up at him, nothing but shock in her eyes, and then looked past him.

Steven sucked in a breath and shook his head, forcing himself to focus. "Uh… Amethyst, this…"

His voice died a little. Aster picked up, somewhat, where he left off, taking a few cautious steps forward. "I- I'm, um… I'm Aster." Amethyst opened her mouth, stunned into silence, and glanced down at his half of the gem, pupils shrinking a little as he stared. "It's nice to… ah… meet you."

"What," Amethyst breathed, clenching her teeth hard and swallowing. "How…"

"Garnet was right," Steven managed to force himself to speak again, forcing in another breath to try and get some air into his lungs. It didn't quite work out, but he continued, pressing forward anyway. "Uh, I- we were a fusion. Kind of. It's a little difficult to explain, especially since neither of us actually… know the specifics of… how it worked, but… um…" He trailed off, glancing back at Aster briefly, as the pink gem finally braved himself enough to come forward beside him. His hand found Steven's arm, wrapping around it tightly as he peered out at Amethyst. "He's my brother," the hybrid finally clarified. "Uh, twins, I guess. Like the Rutiles. Except a little different."

Amethyst shook her head a little, her stunned expression slowly fading into confusion, and then realization, and then concern. "But your gem… s… are you… are you _okay?_ I mean, does it-"

"We're not hurt," Aster assured, shifting his grip on Steven's arm to wrap both of his own around it. Steven couldn't bite back a fond smile in time, looking over at him, and Amethyst had softened a little by the time Steven looked back over at her, her gaze fixed solely on the pink gem. "It feels kind of… normal. Like it was meant to be like this! At least, that's how it is for me." He glanced at Steven from the corner of his eye, a concerned look flitting across his face.

Steven let out a quiet hum of agreement. He hadn't thought of it before, but… all things considered, he did feel pretty normal right then. He definitely felt a lot better than he had without his gem, for starters - and despite only having half of it, it didn't feel too different from before.

"Well…" Amethyst trailed off, shaking her head again. "As long as you're… _okay_ , I guess." She looked at Aster again, a more curious look in her eyes now than anything. Steven briefly let his gaze trail down to the things she had set down beside them. Another basket full of fruits, and another pile of fabric beneath it. Then he focused on the things that had appeared behind her, that had fallen from the same bubble she'd arrived in. The beds, he recognized instantly. Despite himself, he couldn't help but stare; they looked like the one back at the beach house, down to the _blanket_. Steven didn't know how to react to that at first. "Oh! Ah, right, this stuff…" Amethyst turned her head, looking back at the beds. "Okay, so White sent me with the beds an-"

The way she spoke White Diamond's name so casually already set off another warning bell in the hybrid's head, a sudden rush of fear twisting at his gut again. "White Diamond sent you?"

"She wanted me to come instead of that other Amethyst," Amethyst explained.

"Chevron," Aster muttered, a dark look flitting across his face for a second.

Amethyst glanced at him, furrowing her eyebrows briefly, then looked back up at Steven. "She said she made you guys uncomfortable or something, so she let me come drop the stuff off instead. I, uh…" She glanced back toward the things Chevron had brought, abandoned and untouched on the other side of the room since Steven had moved them, and offered a smile. "Figured you'd appreciate that a little more. I got the fruits and stuff _directly_ from the Famethyst, so it's not like, poisoned or anything. Actually, I don't even know if the gems here know what poison is," she commented, rolling her eyes. Steven stayed silent, eyebrows pinching together.

Aster glanced down at the basket she had brought, tilting his head a little. His grip on Steven's warm loosened slightly, then pulled away completely to step forward, crouching down to pick the basket up and look through the fruits and other things that were inside. "So this is… okay, then."

"It looked fine to me," Amethyst replied with a shrug. "Pearl got the Pebble guys to make blankets and pillows for you too. _Now_ I understand why White said she needed _two_ beds…"

Steven had so many questions at that point, but he settled for the more pressing one. "Mom… is she okay? Is everyone okay? I…" He trailed off, looking toward Aster for a second. The pink gem looked up briefly, catching his gaze, but he turned back to his task of sifting through the fruits and stuff in the basket after a few seconds. Amethyst had gone silent then, hesitating for a moment as she glanced between them, before she huffed out a sigh and rubbed her face.

"I mean, everyone's… _fine_ , yeah." She hesitated. "We've all been super worried about you."

Steven gazed at her for a moment, then shook his head. "What're you not telling me?"

Amethyst bit her lip and sighed, offering a one-shouldered shrug and curling the corners of her lips up into a dry smile. "Garnet unfused." Steven faltered a little, but he couldn't quite say he was surprised, given how unstable she'd seemed before. "Sapphire's taking the whole… look, it's fine, buddy. Nothing you need to worry about, alright? Pearl and I are handling all of that. Everyone else is okay. I've been helping the Famethyst with cleanup duty and…" She shrugged again at the weird look Aster shot her over the basket, and Steven raised his eyebrows slightly. "It's something to do, keeping busy. Yellow's trying to get White to let you guys out of here, and we're just trying to figure out how the hell we're gonna get back to Earth when you _do_ get out."

Steven grimaced, lifting a hand and running his fingers through his hair, then dropping it again to fuss with one of his earrings. "That's not gonna be easy," he mumbled. "Especially not now."

"We're working on it," Amethyst assured gently. "Right now we're just… playing along."

Steven managed a tired, knowing smile in response - because, stars, did he understand that - but he didn't miss the way Aster suddenly raised his head, eyes widening and pupils shifting into exclamation points at once. He spared a glance at his brother, furrowing his eyebrows slightly, but he looked back down at Amethyst when the Quartz shrugged and spoke again. "Anyway, look, I know you probably don't want to, but you should eat something. And drink something. And get some sleep. Maybe use some of that water to wash yourselves off, you've both got bloodstains on your clothes and…" She glanced at Aster, managing a small, amused smile. "You definitely need to change, that shirt's way too small for you, little dude."

Aster grinned at her, a huge, toothy smile, pupils shifting into diamonds, and giggled. "Maybe."

"Hey…" Steven trailed off, looking down at Amethyst for a moment, and frowned. "What about you? You look different." The purple Quartz paused at that, looking down at herself, and sighed. "You poofed, didn't you?" Amethyst shrugged, rubbing the back of her neck. "What happened?"

"Eh… Blue Diamond, _kinda_ ," Amethyst added quickly, when both Steven and Aster stiffened, pupils shrinking as they stared at her. " _She_ didn't do anything personally. I poofed myself."

"You p-" Steven shook his head, startled. "Why-"

Aster, however, looked more than understanding. "Because of her powers," he said quietly, and Amethyst managed a dry smile in his direction, nodding slightly as he spoke. "They hurt."

"Oh…" Steven trailed off, silent for a moment. He remembered how it had been before, the pain and grief and guilt and _sadness_ that exploded in his chest whenever Blue Diamond used her powers on him. At the trial… stars, that had been horrible. There was just so much pain, so much he couldn't stand it. This time had been different; he hadn't felt anything in response to her tears, not even when everyone else had. But he didn't understand - it was horrible, yes, but… horrible enough that Amethyst would need to poof herself because of it? He wasn't sure.

"Yeah, well…" Amethyst flashed them a faint smile. "I'm okay now. But I gotta get back and…"

"Yeah," Steven sighed, grimacing a little. He was surprised White Diamond had even let her come in here at all, but then, she had a habit of surprising him recently, now didn't she? The hybrid shook his head and moved forward to hug the small Quartz, and Amethyst wrapped her arms around him tightly in response, offering a light squeeze. "Be careful, okay? Tell the others that I'm okay. That _we're_ okay," he added, sparing a quick glance toward Aster, who smiled.

"I'll tell 'em," Amethyst murmured, pulling back. "Take care of yourselves, okay? Seriously, I mean it. Eat, drink, sleep, all that stuff. I'll see if I can convince White to let me come back."

Steven frowned a little at that. "I don't think you should get close to her, Amethyst…"

Amethyst hesitated. "... that's… a little easier said than done."

The hybrid blinked, opening his mouth to ask what she meant by that, but he didn't have the chance. A bubble circled around the Quartz before Steven could speak, and the words died on his tongue at once, sinking back sharply, as the bubble sank through the floor and disappeared.

Aster stared at the floor for a moment, then looked over at Steven. The hybrid stayed silent for a few seconds, rubbing his hand over his face furiously and rolling his shoulders back to rid himself of some of the tension that had built up, before he turned back to his brother again. "Well, at least we know they're okay," he mumbled, and Aster let out a quiet hum of agreement. Steven glanced down at the fruit he was holding - it looked like an apple, but… purple? - then back down to the basket, raising his eyebrows slightly. "And… as for these… I guess if…"

"Amethyst brought them. I think they're okay," Aster murmured. He stared at the apple in his hand for a moment, looking curious, then brought it up to take a tentative bite out of it.

"I-" Steven raised his eyebrows and sighed, but he couldn't bite back a smile. "How's it taste?"

"It's…" Aster chewed silently for a few moments, then swallowed. "... _good_." He put the basket down to pull another one of the fruits out, holding it out to Steven, and the hybrid shuffled forward after a moment to take it, turning it over in his hands a few times before taking a bite. He remembered trying them before at the human zoo, although those had tasted… different. Actually, these didn't have much of a taste. They didn't have the same kind of _tang_ as fruits were from Earth. There was some kind of flavor, but Steven couldn't quite place what it was.

But it _was_ good, that was the thing. Not overwhelming, not strong enough to make his taste buds burn. It was… just right. The hybrid fell silent, taking another bite, and then another. Aster had finished off his own by that point, almost starry-eyed then - not literally, though Steven didn't doubt that stars were one of the many shapes Aster could manipulate his pupils into.

Aster gasped suddenly, pupils shifting into exclamation points. "Oh! Oh! I had an idea!"

Steven blinked, peering up at him through his lashes. "Yeah?"

"I-" Aster stopped, eyes darting around, and looked toward the window. When he spoke again, it was much quieter, barely above a whisper. "... we might need to fuse again for this, actually…"


	4. Chapter 4

Fusing again was… different.

There was little hesitance on either end, whatever apprehension Aster had held previously having been replaced with excitement, and Steven was more curious than anything to see what his brother was up to. They stood for a moment after they fused, teetering slightly on their feet, before they noticed something else a bit… off. They were taller. They looked down at themself for a moment, wide eyes focusing on their hands, their feet, their gem. Both halves fit together perfectly, and of course they did. The thin crack down the center didn't faze them anymore, but it didn't stop one of their hands from raising involuntarily to cover it somewhat instinctively, fingers curling gently around the buzzing, humming gemstone as they lifted their gaze again. A few strands of pink curls fell in front of their face; they blew it away wordlessly, and raised an eyebrow despite themself as their eyes rose. Pink hair. The rest of them was the same, mostly human, but their hair was pink. They wished they could get a better look at themself, but…

They paused, blinking, and shook their head. Right, Aster had an idea and Steven wanted to hear it. The fusion sat down, sinking back sharply against the wall, and closed their eyes.

"Take a moment to think of just…" They murmured.

"Flexibility, love and trust  
Take a moment to think of just  
Flexibility, love and trust…"

* * *

Steven met Aster in a familiar-looking place. Well, it was kind of familiar; the blue sky above them, the butterflies fluttering around. Below them, however, was a field littered with flowers. Not many of them; roses and lilies and dandelions, flowers of different colors and sizes. The hybrid stared down for a moment, gazing silently at a rose beside his foot. He stared until a butterfly swooped down to land on it, wings fluttering as it landed on one of the petals, and Steven managed to crack a hesitant smile before turning back to where Aster had been. His brother was surrounded in butterflies, though he didn't seem too fazed by them. He moved past them - through them, really - and approached Steven with one still settled on his shoulder, smiling despite it all, though the hybrid couldn't help but spare him a concerned look. "You okay?"

Aster blinked and gazed at him for a moment, pupils shifting into question marks. "Why wouldn't I be?" Then he followed Steven's gaze to the butterfly on his shoulder, and huffed out a giggle. "Oh, no, this little guy. I'm okay! They're not that bad." He looked back at the swarm of butterflies, though most of them had dispersed and fluttered back up into the sky. Steven stared at the one on Aster's shoulder for a moment longer before looking back up at his brother again. Aster was silent for a few seconds, an odd look on his face, but then he suddenly lit up and whirled his head around to look at Steven again, pupils shifting into exclamation points. "Oh! Right, my idea. Okay. Okay, okay, okay. So what if we…" He paused, seemingly just for dramatic effect - which got a smile out of Steven - and finished in a whisper, "'play along'?"

Steven paused, mouth open, and furrowed his eyebrows. He had a _slight_ idea what Aster meant by that, but he also wasn't completely sure. He had a feeling he knew where this was headed, though, and the gears in his head had already started churning by the time he managed to reply. "Play along…" He furrowed his eyebrows, silent for a moment. "I don't know, Aster. This isn't… a _game_. And the last time I tried to play along here…" He shook his head, trailing off.

"I know," Aster assured him, exclamation point pupils shifting back to normal. "But White Diamond _thinks_ it's a game. And we already made her mad before, right? And she threatened to keep us in here longer. But now she's trying to win us over with food and drink and clothes. She thinks we're gonna fall right into whatever trap she's setting for us, either because we'd be too scared to defy her or because she thinks we don't know better. Whatever the case is, she's not just going to let us take a ship and fly outta here like before, right? We've gotta focus on getting out of this _room_ , much less getting off of this planet. And with those bubbles of hers, and her mind control thing…" Aster fell silent for a moment, and Steven narrowed his eyes. He'd forgotten about the mind control thing, that Pearl… "But maybe it doesn't have to be like _that_. We could look at ourselves as prisoners here, or…" Aster paused again, and inclined his head.

"We could look at ourselves as two Diamonds, just like them," Steven finished, eyes widening.

"Exactly!" Aster grinned. "We're royalty! We've got an _advantage_. Plus, we've got Yellow on our side and Blue'll have to swim through her own tears before she can get her hands on us again anyway. Not to mention, we're not just any Diamonds; she thinks we're _Pink_. The one she lost and grieved over and then unknowingly tortured for eight months." He narrowed his eyes for a moment, pupils briefly shifting into pinpricks. He didn't need to finish for Steven to understand. "All I'm saying is, this is a pretty big step up from being a soldier, right? And you were already gaining respect from other gems before they even knew you were a Diamond in the first place."

"It's certainly different," Steven conceded, furrowing his eyebrows. He still didn't know how to feel about the fact that he was a Diamond at all, if he was being completely honest. But he definitely understood what Aster was saying. "But that's… stars, I don't know. It's _different._ I'm a soldier, for Homeworld's sake - I hardly think I'm qualified for _Diamond_ status, regardless of…"

"Steven, what are you _talking_ about?" Aster exclaimed, taking a few steps forward. The butterfly on his shoulder fluttered its wings, almost in agreement. "This whole thing- it'll be a breeze!"

Steven inclined his head toward him, silent for a moment. "But we're not like them."

"We don't have to be," Aster replied, eyes sparkling. "We could be _better_." Steven blinked, taken aback by that, while Aster crossed the distance between them completely and reached out to grab his hands, pinprick pupils shifting into diamonds once again. "Think about it. You and me. The new Pink Diamonds. We don't have to be like Blue Diamond or White Diamond, or even Yellow. We don't have to be cruel and evil and ruthless. _What_ we are doesn't have to change _who_ we are." He paused. "But what we are _does_ matter. Especially right now. It _should_ matter."

" _We_ should matter…" Steven murmured, raising his eyebrows slightly and looking down with a smile. He fell silent for a moment, curling his fingers with Aster's, and allowed his smile to widen briefly into a grin. His brother was… onto something, actually. Hell, he was a genius. An absolute genius. Homeworld needed to change, but Steven couldn't bring that change when he was just some hybrid abomination, some Quartz soldier, some war criminal. He wasn't Rose Quartz and he wasn't Pink Diamond, but he was a Diamond. _They_ were Diamonds. And if there was ever a chance to step up and accept that title, embrace it, even, then right now had to be it. Because Aster was right. "And… what about the others? White Diamond, Blue Diamond?"

Aster offered a lopsided grin, and his diamond pupils shifted suddenly, spinning around for a moment before settling on what Steven thought looked like a four-pointed star. "What about them? We've got no obligation to Blue Diamond, I'll tell you that much. She can get cracked for all I care, she's not a part of this. White Diamond, we might have to get a little sweet with, but…" He paused, and his grin melted into a somewhat mischievous smile. "You know what they say. Hate the sin, love the sinner. She wants a Diamond? Let's give her two. Her game, our rules."

"You…" Steven allowed his face to split into a grin, stepping back and pulling Aster along with him to spin them both around, and the pink gem squealed out a startled laugh. "Are a _genius!"_

Aster laughed as they came to a stop, rocking up onto his toes before falling back. "Thank you!"

Steven giggled, and smirked, thinking for a moment before he spoke. "This is perfect… and with Melanite out of the way, we're not in any danger, are we? Not as long as we do what she wants. Which won't be a problem now…" He trailed off, his grin widening for a second. "But hey, this _is_ what she wants, right? 'Return to Homeworld without a fuss'. Oh, it's tough to be Diamonds…" He smirked, and Aster giggled, looking up at him with wide eyes. "But home sweet home, right?"

"Home sweet Home _world,_ " Aster corrected, grinning. "So…"

"So," Steven murmured, narrowing his eyes. "Let's get comfortable."


End file.
